Can the Whole Family do Yoga?
19 June 2023
Yoga is a great way of getting a little more control over your body and mind. It improves your physical, mental, and social capabilities - as well as making you feel happy and healthy! However, due to our preconceived notions of what yoga entails, you might be wondering who yoga is best for. Can kids do it? What about grandparents? What about if you’re a little on the smaller side, or on the bigger side?
Although it may look easy on TV, don’t be fooled. Yoga is quite physically demanding at higher levels. Time to answer your question. Can the whole family do yoga? The answer is yes. In fact, experts consider yoga to be one the best exercises for the elderly, and an excellent exercise for kids to help them relax and stay calm.
It's more beneficial when the whole family engages in yoga consistently as the advantages of doing yoga as a family far outweigh the benefits when practised as an individual. After all, who doesn’t enjoy some quality family time?
Benefits of doing yoga as a family
Yoga involves meditation - which makes it a wise option for the whole family, especially the kids, to develop the concentration skills needed to help them focus and excel in daily life. It also helps in increasing the fitness and relaxation level of all your family members, as well as encouraging a healthy lifestyle.
When a family does yoga together, it strengthens their bond and helps them develop trust in one another. The fun aspect deepens the connection between family members and makes everyone emotionally independent, while still being tolerant of others' feelings. You can work hard together, stretch together, meditate together - and even have a laugh when someone messes up a pose! It’s the little things that make this activity a great experience for the whole family.
Like every other exercise, there are different stages of yoga practice. While your kids’ level may be far lower than yours, you can sign up for online yoga tutorials for kids where you're shown different kinds of yoga practices for kids of different age groups. You don’t all have to do the exact same pose. The older kids and parents can do a slightly more difficult version of a yoga pose, whereas the little ones can do the more basic version.
What is the best time to practise yoga as a family?
Although yoga is best practised in the morning, it may be quite difficult for the family to do yoga on weekdays, depending on the nature of the parents' jobs and the kids who’ll have to go to school. To make it a more sustainable exercise, you can even do yoga a couple of times a day - or just once a day. An example of a good yoga routine could be a focused stretch in the morning, a more rigorous yoga session at night or in the evening, and a few minutes of meditation before bedtime. If you can, do all three. If that isn’t possible due to everyone being quite busy, you can do one of these sessions together.
All this means there is no perfect time for yoga. It all depends on when the whole family will be available. However, it's important to note that you should not practise yoga if you feel weak, sick, or are in a hurry. You don’t want to stretch and make injuries worse!
What equipment is needed for a family to start yoga?
Certain equipment might be useful when starting yoga as a family, which will make practise easy and make the whole experience that much more worthwhile. As a family, you might need equipment like pants, mats, straps, etc., to do yoga.
However, these are all optional forms of equipment. You really don’t need that much to get started with yoga - all it takes is a large open area with a soft surface and some clothing you can move in. Yoga mats might be more comfortable but you can even get started on a carpeted surface. For maximum comfort, we do recommend getting a few yoga mats - it’ll make the experience way more fun and authentic.